While discussing a new Facebook app that allows users to list their
enemies during the Tuesday panel segment on NBC's Today, liberal
advertising executive Donny Deutsch claimed guest host Sarah Palin had
done the same thing with President Obama: "I was listening to
your interview and your whole point was anybody but Obama....Setting up
the enemy versus this is what we need to do."

Deutsch was referring to Palin's comment to co-host Matt Lauer during
an interview earlier in the show: "I've been of the mind-set that
anybody but Obama will be so much better for our country....I honestly
believe that anybody running on that GOP ticket would be infinitely
better than what we have today, with these failed socialist policies."

During
the panel discussion, Palin voiced her disapproval of the new Facebook
feature: "...it's all about tearing people down. Hurting people. I don't
see anything positive, anything good about this." Deutsch then
responded: "Maybe they're learning from the politicians....I think it's
horrible what they're doing. But all we see from politicians is pure
negativity, and enemy-ism, for lack of a better word. So, this is kind
of throughout our culture."

Palin pointed to other sources of "pure negativity": "That's not just
in the political arena. I mean, look at the Bill Mahers of the
world....in the entertainment business, too, there is a lot of – there's
power in people's words. We know that. And when an app is being used to
take somebody's words, as I say, to demean somebody, to tear somebody
down, that just adds more darkness to our world, it's just absolutely
unnecessary."

Palin noting Bill Maher's negativity was the first time the left-wing
bomb-thrower's name was mentioned on NBC News on the subject of civility
in the wake of Rush Limbaugh's comments about Sandra Fluke in
February.

It was then that Deutsch decided to go after Palin as one of those politicians promoting "enemy-ism."

Deutsch himself has made his share of negative comments about conservatives, including using racially-tinged language[2] to attack to attack then-Senate candidate Marco Rubio in 2010, something he later apologized for.

Back in 2009, Deutsch said of Palin[3]:
"The reason we have a fascination with Sarah Palin – men and women:
This is the first woman in power that has sexual appeal and people don't
know what to do with it. That's why people are fascinated with her.
Everything else is secondary."

Here is a transcript of Deutsch's April 3 exchange with Palin:

8:14AM ET

(...)

MATT
LAUER: The developers of the app say, "It may sound sinister, but its
purpose is more sociological. We believe there's a certain amount of
health in saying that you don't like something, that something is your
enemy, because you can create conversations about that. You can bond
with people over that."

SARAH PALIN: Nope, it's all about tearing people down. Hurting people. I don't see anything positive, anything good about this.

SNYDERMAN: I don't either. I think it's crap. I don't agree.

DONNY DEUTSCH: Maybe they're learning from the politicians.

SNYDERMAN: No, you know what? Honest to God, I think this is where Cheryl Sandberg-

DEUTSCH: Wait, wait!

LAUER: You can't let that just go.

DEUTSCH: Can you let the Governor respond to that? I just – that was why we just left it-

SNYDERMAN: I'm sorry, I missed the lob.

DEUTSCH: But obviously I think it's horrible what they're doing. But
all we see from politicians is pure negativity, and enemy-ism, for lack
of a better word. So, this is kind of throughout our culture.

PALIN: That's not just in the political arena. I mean, look at the Bill Mahers of the world. Look at the, some of these-

DEUTSCH: I'm not saying liberal or conservative, both sides.

PALIN: But in the entertainment business, too, there is a lot of –
there's power in people's words. We know that. And when an app is being
used to take somebody's words, as I say, to demean somebody, to tear
somebody down, that just adds more darkness to our world, it's just
absolutely unnecessary.

DEUTSCH: But it was interesting, I was listening to your interview and your whole point was anybody but Obama.

PALIN: Yeah.

DEUTSCH: Setting up the enemy versus this is what we need to do. I'm
not criticizing you, it's all politicians today. So this is an extension
of that.

PALIN: Well, I don't think that saying anybody but Obama is – is
necessarily such a negative thing, because that opens the door to
talking about the positive solutions that I would like to talk more
about-

DEUTSCH: But it wasn't positive-

PALIN: To talk more about when it comes to the other side of the aisle and the solutions to propose.

(...)

-- Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. Click here[4] to follow Kyle Drennen on Twitter.

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